Letter-box



(N5 Modem' W. B. BETHUNE 8v J. 'MGPHERSON.

LETTER BOX.: No. 567,330. Patented Sept. 8, 1896.

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@xbm/Ifema UNITEDY STATES PATENT OEECE.

WILLIAM B. BETHUNE AND JOHN MCPHERSON, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

LETTER-Box.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 567,330, dated September 8, 1896.

Application illed August 17, 1895.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, WILLIAM B. BETHUNE and JOHN MCPHERSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of 5 Lancaster and VState of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-Boxes; and wedo declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in .the art to which it appertains to p make and use the same,lreference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the iigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to letter-boxes, and its objects are, iirst, to prevent improper access thereto; second, to obviate atmospheric influences on locks incident to boxes as ordinarily constructed; third, to permit the auto- 4matic locking and unlocking of the door of said box from the interior of the house'whereto the boxis affixed, and, fourth, to accomplish these ends with structural simplicity and economy. I attain these purposes by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents an end View of a letterbox, partly in section, showing the correlative adjustment of the coacting parts composing our invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section` thereof, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.'1; and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the box containing the locking mechanism, showing the mode of its junction to the letter-box.

The same designations indica-te corresponding parts in all the views.

The box 1 is provided with a swinging lid 2, pivoted to the fixed lid 3, upon raising which mail can be deposited therein, the shield 4 preventing its abstraction therefrom. The door 5 is pivotally suspended in the recess 9 from the upper end of the front of the box 1, having a spring 23 attached theretopto, cause it to open automatically upon being re- Serial No. 559,686. (No model.)

leased, and the bottom of itsinner surface is provided with a catch 16, engaging the hooked end 15 of the lever 12, fulcrally joined at 13 to the wall 6 of the box 7. The lever 12 is attached to and operated by the toggle-arm 19, connected pivotally to arm 2O by pin 18, mounted in bearing 17. The arm 2O is actuated bya connecting-rod 2l, impelled manually by pulling the knob 22 within the house. The loose box 7 has fastened thereto the lugs 10, the bent-over ends 11 of which are clenched in the inside of the box 1.

The operation of the device is apparent by inspection of the drawings. The mail being deposited by the carrier through the lid, hinged on top of the box, remains there secure both from the access of the elements of nature, and also from the depredations of meddling persons. The mail thus deposited can only be withdrawn from the outside after a person from within the premises, presumably authorized so to act, has released the fastening mechanism that holds the exit-lid normally locked.

What we claim is-f As an improved article of manufacture, a letter-box 1 having a spring-impelled door 5, closing automatically, provided o'n its inner surface with the catch 16, in combination with the loosebox 7, provided with the lugs 10, having bent ends 11 securing the same to the outer box; the toggle-arms 19 and 20; the hookedlever 12; and the connecting-bar-2l actuated within the house, as' by knob 22 g the whole cooperating as and for the purpose herein shown and described, in the correlation and adjustment specified and illustrated.

In testimony whereof We afx our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM B. BETHUNE. JOHN MCPHERSON. Witnesses:

A. G. WoLEENEAEGEE, T. F. A. WILLIAMS.` 

